The Year Edogawa Conan Saved Christmas
by ROBLOXCATSTORM
Summary: Sequel to It's Christmas Time, Edogawa Conan. Shinichi is asked to solve a really cold case and ends up getting more time than he bargained for, Ran is brought into the whole shebang by pure accident, and Ai, Agasa and Gin search for the true meaning behind Christmas.
1. Prologue

A flurry of snow flutters across the screen. A tint of saturated blue fades in and even whiter snowflakes fall gently but as shakily as animation cel technology of the 1960s will allow. Jingle bells ring quietly in the distance as if they are having some sort of team huddle on the other side of the court, whispering to each other strategies of how to get around the Los Angeles Lakers. As the sleigh bells jingle about their plays, the snow gradually slows to a stop, and the sky becomes as blank as a canvas. The vision of the sky slowly ascends as light flutey music plays gently on the breeze of a cold winter's day. Snow-covered hills dotted by frozen pine trees pan out for miles underneath the big blue atmospheric effect of the sun's rays getting refracted into color.

Across this barren yet festive holiday desert, a lone figure approaches. Its manner of walking is more akin to slithering, as its body is made of snow just like its surroundings. Its gait is jolly yet reserved as one may observe in an old-timer with a twinkle in their eye made of coal. Yes, it's a snowman, with a vest and a hat and an umbrella by his side. He's an old one, with a goatee and mustache that would impress any snow-juvenile under the age of five consecutive winters. He's humming along his way to who knows where when suddenly he stops and turns to face someone invisible.

"Well, hello there! Didn't expect any company, especially during this time of year." He tips his hat. "The name's Sam. I'm a snowman, as you can see. Nice weather out here in the North Pole, eh?" He stops and looks at his silver watch. "Never mind that, looks like I'm on a tight schedule today." He begins to mutter to himself as he snow-slides away. "My, I wouldn't have ever wanted to go outside again if that boy Conan hadn't caught the rampant sea lion killing off those snow-ladies."

As if someone responded asking him who exactly this Conan was, he turns around again. "What? Never heard of the detective Edogawa Conan? My word, you need to get around the anime business a lot more!" He pauses. "Ah, sorry, not everyone has time to watch anime especially in this day and age. We snow-folks happen to not have a lot to do up here, so we ended up catching on with some pop culture."

"Well," he says, completely forgetting about any previous engagements, "I think I ought to tell you the story behind this detective. It's a story about a little boy who wasn't really little, a girl who loved him, a man who needed a break in life, and some good old Christmas magic. It all started when-" Suddenly, he lets out a scream, and falls to the ground, back up, a knife sticking out of it. The camera falls to the side and briefly fizzes out in static as a penguin rushes over to the old snowman's side. The penguin turns toward the fourth wall and yells, "Call 911! He's out!" As sirens begin to play in the distance, a sound of waddling feet can be heard, and the camera's gruesome recording is cut short.

CREDITS ROLL


	2. Kudo Shinichi Is Forced to Solve a Case

It had been two days since Gin showed up at the Mouri Detective Agency with many apologies and Edogawa Conan disappeared for good. Kudo Shinichi was finally at his own house without fear of Black Organization agents out to kill him, and he was extremely happy about the entire ordeal. I mean, he freaking met Santa Claus. He could have been a little less offended at how Santa basically did everything to satisfy Ran and not himself, but Kudo Shinichi is a definite candidate to be the poster child for arrogance. I wouldn't put it past him if his portrait was there in the hall of Poster Children right now under a big plaque listing how many times he put his pride first and girlfriend second. Nevertheless, he was enjoying cleaning his own house as himself and not having other people clean up forcibly for him as a six year old. He was definitely NOT going to go back to being Edogawa Conan using Santa's Christmas magic incantation, not even if he needed to escape a burning building through an opening that only his six year old self could get through.

Shinichi was presently in the attic, dusting off the various old stuff that his parents left to sit around. He opened a chest and dug around in it for amusement. Underneath a bunch of records, he found a box. Inside it were letters. Shinichi smiled to himself. They were fan mail for his dad that he kept for so long. His dad had a soft spot for dedicated fans who sent him letters of admiration. He went through a couple of them, wondering why he kept them specifically. Most of them seemed like particularly normal letters that he would get on a daily basis. He dug around some more through the papers and found one that was specifically ornate-looking. It was laced with gold and the fancy handwriting upon the envelope gave off a cold feeling on his fingers. There was no return address and it was still sealed. What was this? He opened the envelope and a slight winter chill flew out from the interior.

He pulled out the letter, cold to the touch.

"Dear Kudo Yuusaku-san, my interest has been piqued by your talent in both writing and solving mysteries. Forgive my forwardness, but I am an old man living far in the north. I don't have time for humbly prancing around the subject at hand. I have a challenge for you."

This was no fan letter. It was an invitation.

"I have uncovered a puzzle that runs deep within the roots of my family. I have enclosed the details. I have not been able to figure it out myself, but I was hoping for you to look into it."

Shinichi then took note that the aforementioned details were likely to be the extra papers still inside the envelope.

"It would be greatly appreciated if you could look into this. I will forgive you if you lack the time, the funds, or the accessibility to solve said conundrum, but if you do not have the time, please place it in the hands of one who does. Signed, a friend."

This, of course, engaged Shinichi's immediate attention. Forget that the rest of the attic was rotting in dust, this was a mystery. His father would never have time for a game like this, so it was obvious that only he could be the one to solve it.

He dug the rest of the envelope's contents out and spread them on the desk in his father's study. The final piece of paper, folded into a tiny square, was the coldest of all. Shinichi had forgotten that ice cold paper was kind of strange because he was too distracted by the mystery at hand, and as he opened it, he realized that the paper was probably embedded deeply with wintry magicks because the study disappeared and it was suddenly very, very white out.

* * *

Shinichi found himself headfirst in a pile of snow. He dug himself out and looked around. This was not Japan. This was not regular. There was snow for miles. A conifer or two faintly appeared in the distance. A great sea of dark waves expanded past the horizon. The sky was a bright blue but no sun was visible. Wherever he was, it was incredibly cold.

He was definitely not in the North Pole, because the snow was real, and cold, and wet, and now Shinichi was as well. He stood up and righted himself in the two feet of snow as best he could. The papers he had taken out of the envelope were scattered around him and he gathered them up and stuffed them back into the envelope and then into his pocket where they would be safer. There was shelter nearby in the form of the underside of a snowy cliff. Interestingly enough, there was a door as well, embedded in the ice. Shinichi went up to it and tried to open it, but the door and doorknob were both frozen. Taking up arms (er, legs), he smashed it in with a soccer-level kick, practically shattering the door and allowing his entry.

The interior of the 'house' was nearly as elaborate as Santa's own workshop lobby, except it was drab and frightening instead of happy and full of Christmas cheer. It was huge and empty with light only coming from magical frozen torches. There were pillars of thick ice throughout the hall, fountains made of blackened stone with frozen water standing in place, and gargoyles of ice which grimaced at him with teeth made of icicles. Shinichi felt rather unnerved by all of this, but at least he was inside somewhere where he wouldn't eventually get snow blindness.

Every step he took echoed throughout the hallway, even though he was stepping on a thin dark red rug. He finally came to the end of it, where three large archways went deeper into the cliffside, one going down stairs so deep that he couldn't see the end.

Shinichi decided to consult the envelope. He opened the contents past the letter again. A second letter was now present, which he quickly unfolded.

"I see you've taken an honest interest in my puzzle. Please don't be startled by your change of location, I will send you back easily when it's all done. You can find me in my study. Once inside my home, take a right at the first crossroads."

Shinichi wondered why someone would always be in their study regardless of when the letter was written. The right archway led down a straight hallway with a wooden door at the end, decorated with cast-iron bindings. He knocked on the door. No one answered, so he opened the door. It slowly budged open.

A man sat inside at a desk. Shinichi took second thoughts about whether he could rightfully call him a man. His skin was paler than any dead man, and his hair was almost as white as the winter wonderland outside. He was tall and thin and looked like he had an angry disposition. He wore a flat white hat with a blue band and a blue jacket with a striped scarf.

"I see it's finally high time that you came around to my case," said the man. "It's been ten years since I sent that letter." He turned around to face Shinichi, but his movements were strange and stiff, as if someone kept stopping him and then moving his body slightly and then taking another picture. His body's texture looked as if it was made of some uniform plastic. Shinichi was a little creeped out by this, but he ignored it because this man had obviously been living in this desolate expanse for ages and it probably had affected his appearance.

"I'm not Kudo Yuusaku," said Shinichi.

The man didn't look very pleased to see a teenager. "Then who are you?"

"I'm his son, Kudo Shinichi, a detective like him."

"Are you as good as him?"

"Better."

"Ah, you'll do as a replacement." He turned around in the chair to face him. "I'm the Snow Miser."

"Snow Miser?"

"I'm the king of cold, and I've got a real cold case for you. Your father's procrastination isn't going to help one bit."

"What happened?"

"My brother, the Heat Miser, was killed ten years ago to this day."

"The exact day? December 27th?"

"Right on the spot. Not even Santa Claus could figure out what happened to him. Everyone in the North Pole-isphere forgot all about it after a while, except me. That's why I sent for your father. I had heard on TV that he was the best detective around. We watch a lot of TV up here, what with the snow and all."

"And he never came?"

"Nope, not even a reply. I guess you found his letter?"

"Yeah. I'd be happy to solve this case for you."

"Well, you would have no other choice, would you? You're practically stuck up here unless I use my wintermancy to send you home."

"I suppose you're right."

"By the way, how are you handling this so well? Usually mortals who show up on my doorstep are rather astounded by the whole deal."

"I had to solve a case for Santa just a few days back. I've been through stranger ordeals."

"Hmph. He still isn't much for deductive reasoning, is he?"

"He hasn't got a clue." Shinichi and the Snow Miser both laughed. I mean, that was a really good pun.

"So," said Shinichi, "where do we start? Where did the Heat Miser live?"

"Right down the lane," said the Snow Miser, "but I'd rather not get out my walking cane, so we'll just go there with a bit of my holiday magic." He waved his hand and with a blast of cold they were in a completely different environment.

"I see he wasn't very suited for this latitude," said Shinichi.

The room was literally a rock face above a pit of bubbling lava that was strangely not melting Shinichi's skin off his bones, and the bones as well.

"The volcano under his house got a little more active recently," said the Snow Miser. "Don't mind it."


	3. Time Whale

"There's no evidence," said Shinichi. "I can see why you need my help."

"Right. He just died from his wounds, but no one could figure out why, or how."

"Is there any way I can find any evidence?"

"If there's one thing I've learned from the old Winter Warlock, it's that you should always put one foot in front of the other," said the Snow Miser. "Soon enough with a mindset like that, you'll be walking out the door. There's only one way to solve who killed my brother."

"And how's that?"

"You'll have to take a trip back in time."

"But how can I do that!?" asked Shinichi. He then stopped and re-composed himself. "Can you, perhaps, do it with your magic?"

"I'm afraid time is excluded from my abilities, but I know someone who can help us out." The Snow Miser waved his frostbitten yet formidable hand again and they appeared outside next to the great black Arctic Sea.

"You got a boat?" asked Shinichi.

The Snow Miser laughed and looked over at Shinichi. "Oh, boats would never survive in this climate." He put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Suddenly, the water parted and a huge black shape rose out of the water. It was a whale whose tail happened to be adorned with an object in the shape of a large clock.

"I see you've got business in the Sea of Time," said the Time Whale, his tail timepiece ticking back and forth. He spoke slowly in a voice deeper than the ocean and thicker than the La Brea tar pits. "You have impeccable timing. I've just come back from the minute-minnows' spawning season and my schedule is empty. I suppose you need another favor?"

"It's not like last time, I promise," said the Snow Miser. "Nothing petty. I've got a friend here who needs to go back in time ten years to this very spot. I'm finally going to find out who killed my brother."

"I'm glad that the mystery will finally be solved. I had almost forgotten about your poor brother's untimely fate. As for your request, that's not a difficult task for me," said the Time Whale. "And I already forgave you for last time's occurrences. It's all in the past." He splashed his tail in the dark waves.

"I don't have time for time jokes." The Snow Miser crossed his arms with an even crosser look on his face.

"I do."

* * *

Shinichi sat upon the back of the Time Whale and watched as the years slowly floated past him. He could glimpse past events slipping by as they swam through the sea. It was an utterly astounding sight to be literally swimming backwards through a natural flow of events. The stream of time was almost like a never-ending road of ocean, its path slowly converging into the horizon.

Suddenly there was a shift in the whale's composure.

"What's wrong?" asked Shinichi. He had to yell over the roaring waves.

"I wish I didn't have to tell you this, but we've hit a pretty bad spot in the time stream," said the Time Whale.

"What'll happen?"

"I might not reach our destination. If our luck runs out, we may even get flung into a faraway time. I can't guarantee that we'll make it safely through this." The whale was struggling to keep itself righted on the correct time current.

"That's not good."

"No, it isn't."

Suddenly the Time Whale was hit by a huge storm wave and Shinichi was thrown off. He sunk into the waves of time, struggling to reach the surface, but it was of no avail. The Time Whale floundered about in the distance as Shinichi's vision faded to black.

* * *

Ran was recovering from the Christmas celebrations with a cold glass of orange juice with ice in it. There was no better way to pretend that Christmas was over and done with than with a drink meant for a hot summer's day.

It had been a slow morning at the Mouri Detective Agency, as everyone who had shown up for the celebration had gone home the night before, and no clients showed up at the door. Kogoro was still asleep even though it was noon, having gone out with some of his drinking buddies for a Christmas bonanza with several servings of eggnog. Shinichi had packed up and was cleaning his entire house, which he assured Ran he could do well enough by himself. What a card.

Ran kind of missed Conan's presence, but she didn't really mind that much, because it was just Shinichi after all. I mean, he was a huge jerk and all, but who can blame him?

Ran decided it was high time to go get the mail. She walked down to the mailbox and withdrew several envelopes. One of them was red with shiny gold decorations around its edges. Ran hoped it was a cool Christmas card from an old client. She brought the other letters upstairs to the office and then sat down on the couch to check out what exactly the special one contained.

The letter was sort of cold to the touch but Ran knew it had been a pretty cold day in itself so she didn't really pay attention to it. Inside was a letter requesting her father to aid the client with a mystery of sorts, but there was no return address, and there was no signature on the letter. There were more papers, though, other than the first. Ran took out and unfolded more of them, but they were blank. Then she saw a small folded square of paper and took it out. Perhaps this was some idea of a joke. She unfolded the paper and then the world around her turned white. Suddenly she was also lying two feet deep in snow.

"Well, that was pretty bizarre," said Ran.

She decided to head to the nearest thing that looked like shelter, which was a hole in a cliffside. She stepped through the doorway and found the door on the ground instead of in its rightful place with a huge dent in the middle of it. Someone had broken in. Ran decided to enter karate mode and carefully examine the rest of the place. Who would intrude upon a house (if you could call it that) in the middle of absolute nowhere? Nothing made sense, but Ran knew that considering magic was real, this wasn't really much of a surprise.

In the hall she found the Snow Miser, tall and pale, lounging in a chair made of ice reading an ancient tome. He looked over at her. "Another teenager, huh?"

"Uh, my name is Mouri Ran, and can you explain why this letter to my father took me to this bizarre place?"

"Ah, I see you accidentally opened the letter meant for him."

"So you wanted my dad to come here to your weird snow palace?"

"Exactly. I never meant any harm by it. I was hoping he would help me solve the murder of my brother, but I've already got someone else on the case."

"Someone else?"

"His name is Kudo Shinichi, and from that expression on your face, I'm going to assume you've heard of him?"

"He's my best friend."

The Snow Miser laughed in a cold but hearty way. "Ah, I see how it is. I would send you after your little lovebird, but he happens to already be investigating somewhere where you can't possibly follow."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The Snow Miser turned a frozen page of the book in his lap. "He's taken the Time Whale back to the past in order to find out who killed my brother."

"Time Whale?"

"You've never heard of a Time Whale? My, news never travels quickly from the North Pole, does it?"

"I hadn't even heard of real magic before two days ago."

"I see. Well, the Time Whale is exactly what his name states: he's a whale who can swim the streams of time itself."

"Where in time has Shinichi gone?"

"Don't worry. He's gone back to the day of my brother's death. He'll catch the criminal soon and return with him, or I'll be awful upset."

"Can I go home?"

"My magic's running low, so I can't take people that far." He snapped his fingers and then they were outside by the sea again. "However, we can wait for your friend here."

"How long will he take?"

"His journey should have taken less than a minute in our time," said the Snow Miser, "but it's been over an hour since then. I'm concerned. I hope they didn't take the wrong time current."

As if those words signaled something important, a spout appeared out of the water in the distance.  
"That's him!" said the Snow Miser. "But he's underwater. Where's Kudo Shinichi?"

The Time Whale finally reached the shore and looked at the two with a sad eye. "I believe I've lost a passenger in the time storm."

"What!?" said the Snow Miser. "You lost him?"

"He was thrown off after a vicious time wave hit me. I wish it wasn't true, but I don't know where he is now, or what trouble he may have gotten himself into."

* * *

A pack of sled dogs hauling a toboggan raced across the icy lands of the north. They fought through a thick flurry of snow with all the dedication of a soulless animal. Picking out a huge snow bank, the dogs finally settled out of the way of the wind and snow and came to rest in a considerably drier location. The three humans riding along with the dogs stretched their limbs from the long ride and one of them prepared a fire.

Once the tents were put up, the three clambered into one of them, and the smallest of the them unrolled a map in the light from various flashlights.

"It looks like we should try to avoid the more watery parts up ahead," said Agasa. "I can't see why we should try for a risky run like that. We should take a detour."

"I see your point," said Ai.

The third figure tugged at the neck of his green turtleneck awkwardly. "If I may offer a word of suggestion, maybe we should take the trail that leads between these mountains. We'll get past the danger zones and it won't be that much of a time loss," said Gin.

"I don't see why not," said Agasa.

"I hope this isn't some trap to get us stranded in the vast Siberian mountains," said Ai.

"I swear I'm good now," said Gin. He crossed his heart and then did a motion of slitting his own neck. "Besides, I'd be trapping myself as well if I meant you two any harm."

"I can't believe we brought you along because you were the only one who knew about a secret Organization helicopter base in northern Siberia, and also the only one who knows how to fly a helicopter," said Ai as if she was reading off a script. She took a drink of hot chocolate out of her World's Best Sister mug.

"The more, the merrier," said Gin, with a smile that could melt the Winter Warlock's raggedy frozen beard.

"Regardless," said Agasa, "we should probably get some sleep before our next run. We're almost to the base, anyway. Once we're in the comfort of the private helicopter, we can relax."

"It may be hard to relax with the helicopter's noise," said Gin. "Good thing I brought earmuffs."


	4. Claus

Shinichi woke up on another icy beach. He wondered how he wasn't frozen solid, and then remembered that the Sea of Time was literally a sea of temporal energy, not actual water. Then how had he drowned in it? Wait, he didn't drown, he was alive. Except then he noticed he was wearing glasses. He realized that he was Conan again. He didn't say his name, and definitely didn't say it three times in a row, so why had he turned back?

Conan stood up and looked around. It was definitely the same spot at which he had embarked on the Time Whale, but it was different in a multitude of ways. There were tall dead pine trees everywhere and the door in the cliff was gone. The snow was shallower and he could feel hard ground underneath his shoes that was likely to be soil instead of ice. Was he in the past or the future?

Thinking of the time stream, he looked back towards the sea. There was no sign of the Time Whale, not even a spout in the distance or a wave out of place. The sea was silent and cold. Conan tried to whistle for the whale, but he had no idea how to do it. He sighed. He was stuck probably in some distant time period, hopelessly stranded.

There was only one thing to do now, and that was to turn back. Conan said 'Shinichi' three times. Nothing happened. The wind blew overhead. Why now of all times would the magic wear off? He was stuck as Conan again, and worse, he was stuck in the middle of nowhere to boot.

Bracing himself for the tough and probably hopeless journey he was about to embark on, he set off into the distant no-man's land. Huge icicles hung off the skeletons of the trees. Mountains faintly shimmered in the distance with all the quality of a mirage. It was the first time that Conan had ever felt truly alone on earth. Speaking of being alone, that also probably meant he wasn't going to survive for long.

His worry was suddenly interrupted by a noise some several meters away. He looked to its source and saw a great white mass of snow rise up from the ground. The snow cleared away to reveal blue limbs and a head covered in white fur, and Conan realized that it was a living creature. It was most definitely a yeti, and from how it was looking around hastily, he assumed that it had heard him walking through the snow.

Conan broke into a run and dived into a small cave formed by a snow bank. He ducked behind the icicles, hoping that he wouldn't be seen. This wasn't how it should end. He was stranded thousands of miles (and probably years) away from home and friends and Ran. He had just returned to being Shinichi. If he disappeared now, it would be without Conan, and no one would ever find his body.

Suddenly, the yeti was distracted by a different presence. Conan peered out from behind the icicle. The yeti was growling at a man in a red coat with a sunny disposition, who took out a toy and gave it to the yeti. The yeti smiled and began to play with the pull-along duck on wheels. Conan wondered if Santa had led some sort of fashion trend.

"It just goes to show that you don't have to be a child to enjoy toys," said the man. "You can come out now, little boy. I mean no harm. And I'm certainly no follower when it comes to my style."

Conan stepped out from behind the icicle. "Who are you?"

"Why, I'm Kris Kringle, toymaker. better known to some of my clients as Claus."

"Claus, as in Santa Claus?"

"No, just Claus. I've never heard of a Santa Claus before. Maybe he's related."

Conan looked over the man's features. He was a young man with a head of shiny orange hair in a snug bowl cut, bright eyes, and a smiling face. His muscles indicated that he had years of travel under his black shiny belt. Surely Santa had been young once. Was this him? What was he doing up here in this desolated ice world? What year was it, anyway? Where exactly in the time stream did the Time Whale beach him at?

"I think I can answer some of your questions," said Claus.

"Oh, right, you're telepathic."

"I'm delivering toys to some of the creatures who live up here in the Arctic Circle."

"Alone?"

"I was alone, until you showed up. So you're from the future, and you know me?"

"Yeah, you deliver toys to all the children on every Christmas."

"Only on Christmas?"

"Right."

Claus crossed his arms in a thinking pose. "From what your mental pictures are telling me, I end up as a jolly old soul who humbly gives out toys to children everywhere. I like it."

"By the way, what year is it?"

"1672."

Conan did a double facepalm. "How am I ever gonna get back to the present? Or back to myself?"

"Yourself?" He stopped and Conan assumed he was reading his mind. "I am reading your mind. You're not a real little boy, are you?"

"No," said Conan, "I'm actually a teenager who got turned into a little kid, and in the future you fixed it with your Christmas magics, but after I got misplaced in time, I don't think it works any more."

"What a story," said Claus. "How did you travel through time?"

"I rode a Time Whale, but we got separated by a storm."

"And where were you intending to go in time?"

"I was planning to go to 1984 to solve the mystery of who murdered the Heat Miser."

"Wow," said Claus. "You must really be out of your element, then."

"I wish I could just go home," said Conan. "I can't even solve this case. I don't know how to get home or if the Time Whale knows where I am. I'm hopelessly lost."

"There's only one thing to do about that," said Claus. "You need to put one foot in front of the other."

* * *

"You want to come along now?" said the Time Whale. "It's dangerous out there. You could get lost in time like how Shinichi did."

"I'm up for the danger," said Ran. "We need to rescue him."

"Good," said the Snow Miser. "As soon as we get him back, we can finally solve this old mystery once and for all."

Ran nodded. "I'll see you later, Snow Miser." She waved goodbye as the Time Whale slipped into the vortex of time's threads.

"So this is the time stream?"

"Indeed it is."

"How will we look for Shinichi here? I mean, there are so many years."

"I'm going to find another friend of mine to ask for help. We're stopping in a different age."

The whale suddenly began to turn to the left against the huge force of the time stream. They began to slow down and the time stream began to vanish as the waves calmed into steady seawater.

"Here's our first stop," said the Time Whale. They sailed smoothly into a port near a castle. "This is the home of the New Years."

"The New Years?" asked Ran.

"Indeed, even a concept as confusing to immortals as a new calendar year can become personified, thanks to the stream of magic that flows around the Earth and dumps its runoff into the Arctic Circle."

The castle had a large waterway running through its middle that the whale sailed through. They came to a great hall and stopped.

"Ah, welcome to my humble abode, my friends. What do you need, Mr. Time Whale? And who's this lady on your back?" asked an old man.

"Hello, 1994," said the whale. "I've lost one of my passengers in the time stream. This is his friend. Can you tell me where, perhaps, the newest time anomaly has sprung up?"

"His name is 1994?" asked Ran.

"He is that year, our year, yes," said the Time Whale. "He's the newest year in the world, but his time is almost up. He's close now to the day when he'll be reborn into 1995 at the stroke of midnight."

"I'll use my memories inherited from the past New Years in order to find him, don't you worry," said 1994. He put two fingers to his forehead like he was psychic, which he probably was. "Hm."

"What's 'hm' supposed to mean?" asked the Time Whale.

"We may have a bigger problem than I previously anticipated."

"Why?"

"Wherever this boy is, he's managed to change the past and affect the future."

"May Father Time have mercy on our souls," said the Time Whale in an even graver voice than Ran thought possible.

* * *

The black helicopter neared the North Pole.

"We'll be sure to find Santa's workshop any time now," said Gin, who was flying the copter.

"I hope he has all the answers we need," said Ai. "Few things can flip a man's entire personality in the blink of an eye."

"That wasn't quite how it all went down," said Gin.

"What happened?"

"I was asleep in my home when I was visited by the ghost of Pisco."

"Pisco!?"

"Yes. He was there and he had chains all over him as if he was connected to some infernal machine. I asked him what business he had to haunt me. He told me that if I were to not change for the better, I would be visited by three spirits that Christmas night. Of course, I expected Pisco to just be a nightmare, and I didn't listen a bit, but after the first visited me, I knew that it could only be real."

"Are you saying that you were just like Ebenezer Scrooge?"

"I can see where you'd get that from," said Gin. "It was definitely similar. I was whisked away to the past, the present, and the future, and I was taught the true meaning of Christmas, charity, and goodness. I've been like this ever since. I think it suits me better."

Ai crossed her arms.

"I can tell you don't agree with me on that last one."


	5. The Magic Runs Out

Conan sat on a rock that Claus had found. They both sat on the seaside eating a meal of warm milk and miraculously fresh cookies. It was like someone had just taken the milk out of the microwave and the cookies had just been pulled from the oven with really cool looking oven mitts.

"I used to be an aspiring little boy just like you," said Claus.

Conan glared at him.

"I can see that wasn't the best way to start that story. Sorry."

Conan dropped the glare.

"Anyway, I used to live up in the mountains with a family of old toymakers. I grew up to make toys just like them, and I became their delivery boy."

"Interesting," said Conan.

"I think your story is a bit more interesting than mine."

"Where can I start? I don't think you'd understand. You're literally from hundreds of years in the past. I don't even know or understand how we're speaking the same language."

"I don't know either, but I wouldn't question it."

Claus took out a doll and looked at it.

"You turned into a kid, sought the men who did this to you, and hid from your best friend because you wanted to keep her safe? That's not hard to understand."

"I was trying to think about it in the shortest and simplest summary possible," said Conan. "It's a lot more complicated than that."

* * *

Amazingly, Santa had a helipad. The black helicopter finally settled down on its perch and the propeller slowed to a stop.

Ai, Agasa, and Gin stepped out of the helicopter and into the magic of Santa's village. Elves welcomed then and they were guided to a familiarly gigantic building with a huge elaborately decorated tree.

"So Shinichi wasn't really lying about this," said Ai.

"I believed him from the start," said Gin.

"Well, of course you did," said Agasa. "I mean, you just saw the ghosts of Christmas, what else was there to expect?"

"Good point," said Gin.

From a stairwell above, a jolly old man in a red coat laughed heartily. He waltzed down the grand staircase and stood in front of the three visitors. "What brings you three to my workshop, and right after Christmas, too?"

"We wanted to see if you were real," said Ai.

"Ah, is that all? Well, I think you've got proof enough now." Santa smiled in a manner that implied he knew more that he was letting on. He actually did know more because he was obviously telepathic and could tell that Gin was itching to get something important off his chest.

"We have more questions than that," said Gin. "I want to know what happened to me on the night of Christmas Eve."

"I granted Shinichi's wish, didn't I? I made sure that you would turn good. Was it dissatisfactory in any way?"

"No, not at all. I just wanted to understand it."

"It's a classic - the Scrooge method. Turns Christmas Grinches into practical angels in the span of a single good night's rest."

"I see."

"Anything else you wanted to ask?"

"Yes, said Ai." "If magic is real, why is it all up here? Where did this magic come from? I've never experienced a bit of magic in my life up until hearing about Shinichi's grand adventure and Gin's new outlook on life."

"That's a long story," said Santa. "Perhaps it'd be better told over some warm milk and cookies."

* * *

"Magic is, in fact, very real," said Santa Claus.

"Okay, I understand that," said Ai.

"Magic is a second flow of energy that encircles the Earth. It's the force that some may call luck, some may mysteriously name fate, and others may grudgingly refer to it as bad fortune. Magic has judgement. And it seems to have you in its favor, as magic is the reason that you and Shinichi weren't found out a long time ago."

"But why is magic so influential up here? How come you can use it?"

"The flow of magic has a very unique pattern. It encircles the Earth in intricate movements which end at the North Pole."

"It just ends there?"

"That's why it's my duty to grant people's wishes for Christmas. I have to restore magic to the rest of the world every year."

"That makes sense."

"The reason that you and your friends discovered magic is because I needed your friend Shinichi for his expertise in solving murders."

"There's one thing that bothers me," said Ai. "How did you know about Shinichi?"

"He's an old friend of mine."

* * *

"So that's what I do in the future?" asked Claus.

"Yep, you end up needing my help," said Conan. "I solve the case and you turn me back."

"Wow, that kind of magical ability must be amazing," said Claus.

"I don't know how you get it, but that's what happens."

Finally, a great figure rose from the sea in the distance.

"It's the Time Whale," said Conan. "I'm saved!"

Claus watched in amazement as the Time Whale spouted and swam towards them, getting bigger. There was a figure upon it, as if the whale had a saddle to be ridden like a horse. Finally the great sea mammal finally reached the shore.

"Where's Shinichi?" asked the Time Whale.

"He's me," said Conan. "It's not because of time or anything. I just sometimes look like this."

Ran hopped off its back and looked at Conan.

"Shinichi, what are you doing as Conan again?"

"I don't know," said Conan. "I think Santa's magic stopped working."

"Santa's magic made you look like a teenager?" said the Time Whale.

"I'm supposed to be a teenager, this was a mistake," said Conan.

"I see you're being vague, but you can explain this to me later. We're in a bit of a hurry."

"And who's this guy?" asked Ran.

"This is Santa's past self. He likes to call himself Claus."

"Howdy do," said Claus, tipping his hat.

"Don't give me any of that chivalry stuff," said Ran. "Conan, I mean Shinichi, I'm afraid you've done something to the time stream."

"What did you exactly do?" said the Time Whale.

"I didn't do anything," said Conan. "I just met Claus after washing ashore and I talked to him. I didn't change anything, did I?"

"Apparently you did," said Ran.

"The New Years, who have mastery over time's flow, have detected that you've caused a large anomaly in the world's continuity."

"How?" asked Conan.

"We'll just have to find out, now, won't we?"

Conan and Ran got onto the Time Whale's back.

"You stay here for the time being," said the Time Whale to Claus. "I don't want to twist this matter up any further."

Claus nodded and watched as the whale with the clock tail sailed into the distance, disappearing into the folds of reality itself.

* * *

Ai, Gin, and Agasa ate their holiday meal as Santa told them of the vast and various wonders of the North Pole. Agasa was restricted from the cookies, though, and sat there drinking water. Gin sipped at a mug of hot cocoa with marshmallows.

"I have never felt so wrong about science until today," said Ai.

"Me neither," said Agasa.

"Science, for that matter," said Santa, "is basically mortal man's attempts to explain phenomena that can only be truly understood with the aid of magic."

"I can see why it's such a hassle, then," said Gin. "Science has been missing the point from the start, hasn't it?"

"Exactly," said Santa.

Suddenly, Santa was gone from his seat. The plate of cookies previously on his lap clattered to the floor. He had utterly vanished.

"What the heck?" said Ai.

"Maybe he had to teleport in a hurry," said Agasa. "A holiday emergency?"

They waited for Gin to suggest something or at least react. They looked over at him. He was clutching his heart and grimacing in pain.

"Uh oh," said Agasa.

"Are you okay?" asked Ai.

Gin looked up. "I think... the magic... is wearing off."

"Oh crap," said Ai. She got to her feet. "That means you're gonna turn evil again, right?"

"Probably," said Gin. "Get me somewhere where I won't hurt anybody..."

The elves, seeing and understanding Gin's predicament (and telepathically hearing the evil thoughts in his head), quickly locked him in a closet before he could make any actions.

"Considering that man's toughness, I can't guarantee that door will hold for long," said a guard elf. "He looks like he could take a bullet or two."

"What's happening around here?" said Agasa. "Everything's changing suddenly."

The elf looked down. "I... I don't know, sir."

* * *

The sea of time had changed color. It was darker, murkier, and redder. Conan looked down at it as it flowed past the Time Whale.

"We're going right back to the present," said the Time Whale. "We've got to see how much of reality has been broken by your foolish actions."

"I'm sorry, okay?" said Conan. "I didn't know that time worked like that. I thought it was all closed loops."

"That's not the way it works here in the North Pole. Anything could affect the flow of magic and cause it to intermingle with time. Your little discussion with Claus could have changed Santa. Or maybe Santa missed out helping someone. We just don't know."

The images surrounding the three as they made it through the time stream started to imply that they were getting close to 1994. The Time Whale dived downward out of the flow of carefully molded energy and the waves turned to regular seawater.

"This isn't the same place," said Ran. "Where are we?"

"I know where this is," said Conan. "I've been here. This is the North Pole."

"I took a detour," said the Time Whale.

But it wasn't Santa's workshop. As they got closer to shore and the village began to appear out of the mist, they noticed that the same buildings were there, but they looked darker and almost unfriendly. The lights were gone, the decorations were gone, and the snow was cold and wet looking. The whole place was empty and their voices echoed whenever they talked.

"Disturbing," said the Time Whale.

"Yeah," said Conan.

"You're sure this is Santa's village?" asked Ran. "It looks awfully sad."

"Something happened to it while we were away in time," said the Time Whale. "It's likely that your meddling caused this, Shinichi."

"I get that I did something, but please stop blaming me," said Conan. "I can feel the guilt well enough just looking at this."

"Maybe next time you won't completely wreck history itself."

Conan and Ran got off the Time Whale.

"Be careful," said the Time Whale. "Things may be lurking about in there. I don't know how much Santa's magic kept things together."

"We will," said Ran.

Ran and Conan walked off to the town. The buildings looked run-down and sodden with age and ice. The Christmas trees in the courts were wilted and the ornaments had lost their magical luster. Ribbons and wreaths drooped and the snow was more like slush than anything. It was as if everything that made Christmas good had rotted.

"I don't see a single elf anywhere," said Conan.

"Are they normally out and about?" said Ran.

"This place is usually as bustling as Tokyo. I'm getting a weird feeling about this."

Conan directed Ran to the main hall where the biggest sectors of the toy workshops were located. They walked in through the huge doors.

Some elves were still in there, huddled together, feeling lost and confused without a purpose. The big Christmas tree with thousands of presents underneath had become only branches with not a single wrapped gift in sight. The house's architecture appeared to have aged two hundred years in a very short time.

"I'm not even sure that this is the present," said Conan.

Their question was answered when Ran spotted two very familiar people holding themselves against a door in which something was trying to escape.

"Ran? Conan?" said Agasa. "I mean, Shinichi?"

"I don't know why I'm Conan again," said Conan. "Don't bother asking. Why are you two here? What happened to this place?"

"Santa vanished and everything turned bad very quickly," said Ai. "Gin's behind the door. He's as evil as he was before the Christmas miracles."

"Oh crap," said Conan.

"He's been trying to get out for a while," said Agasa. "I'm not sure how long this door will hold up against his strength."

"At this rate, the building might just turn to dust around him," said Ai.

"Normally these doors would be magically sealed if needed," said an elf, "but something's happened to all the magic around here. Santa's gone and everything will collapse without him."

"We need to get back to the Time Whale and fix all of this," said Ran. "I'm sure Santa's disappearance has something to do with the time anomaly you created."

"You did this!?" said Ai.

"Dang it, Ran, you did it again," said Conan. "Just leave out the fact that this was my fault next time."

"Whatever," said Ran. "Let's get going before Gin busts out."

The four of them left the grand hall quickly. Agasa tried to bring some cookies with, but on second thought, they looked a little worse for wear, what with all the mold. He put the plate back down.

"We don't have time for a lunch break," said Ai. "Get a move on."

They reached the Time Whale.

"I see you've found some comrades," said the Time Whale.

"We know them," said Ran. "They're friends. We already briefed them on the situation."

They all hopped on board and with a swish of his ticking tail, the Whale was off.

"Where's our next destination?" asked Conan.

"We're going back to where you were stranded at," said the Time Whale. "Your actions caused all of this, and we have to reverse it."

"So we have to stop myself from interrupting what Santa is doing?"

"Right."

"But how can we do that if it's a time loop? Shouldn't I remember getting pulled aside by myself before heading off into the wilderness and stopping all this from happening?"

"Your theories about how time works are all wrong," said the Time Whale. "Time's flow is vastly different in the North Pole. There are more loopholes. We can exploit it however we wish thanks to the interference of magic. Therefore, we can go back and stop yourself and nothing will happen to your present memories. In fact, we can close off the entire time branch where this happens and just return safely to the proper present."

"I didn't know solving time travel problems was that simple of a process," said Ai.

"Actually," said the Time Whale, "I asked the New Years to do us a favor and seal up the continuity just so that we don't have any loose ends."

The four of them watched as a second Time Whale swam past them in the opposite direction carrying duplicates of Conan and Ran. The duplicates looked over at the larger party on the present Time Whale in shock.

"I don't remember seeing this," said Conan. Ran nodded in agreement.

"See what I mean?" said the Time Whale. "We don't need to worry. We just need to stop the past you from ever encountering Santa."

The Time Whale touched down on the sea again. Conan looked and saw that his past self was lying unconscious in the snow.

"Wait," said Agasa. "There won't be any paradox if Shinichi meets himself in the past, right?"

"None at all," said the Time Whale. Conan got off him and went over to his own body.

He poked his past self's arm with his shoe. "Come on, get up."

The past Conan got to his feet and looked himself in the eye. "What the heck?" said Past Conan. "Why am I Conan again? And who are you?"

"I'm you from like thirty minutes in the future," said Conan. "Stay here, don't go anywhere. The Time Whale from your timeline will be here to pick you up in a couple minutes, right?" Conan looked over at the Time Whale, who nodded (which shook the other passengers a little).

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Past Conan.

"So that you don't go do what I did. I accidentally caused Santa to stop existing by interacting with his past self, who is relatively nearby but just far enough out of reach that he won't spot you on his way if you stay right here."

"Well, all right then. But does that mean that you're going to disappear like in the movies? And you still haven't told me why I'm Conan again. Shinichi, Shinichi, Shinichi... well, that didn't work."

"Santa's magic doesn't work in the past, and it definitely doesn't work when Santa is out of commission in the future."

"That sucks. Well, be seeing you, uh, me."

"Bye." Conan reclaimed his spot on the back of the Time Whale and the party of five sailed back into the time stream tunnel.

Past Conan watched from the shore as a second Time Whale appeared right as the first was leaving. They collided in a massive Head-On Time Accident.

"Oh crap," said Past Conan.

The Time Whale from the future did a spin-out and disappeared into a different wormhole in the time continuity while the Past Time Whale managed to stay on its path. It and Past Ran approached Past Conan.

"Thank goodness you're here," said Past Conan. "I was worried that that accident would have meant being stuck here forever."

"Why are you Conan?" asked Past Ran. "And who were those lookalikes on the other Time Whale?"

"I'll explain it all on our ride back," said Past Conan.


	6. Beached

The Time Whale slowly regained consciousness and groaned with exhaustion. It was on dry, snowy land. (At this point, you should have assumed it was snow.) The Time Whale was officially beached. Its riders were also all unconscious.

"Wake up, you guys," said the Time Whale.

All four of the humans slowly came to.

"Where are we?" asked Ai.

"Not sure," said the Time Whale. "I don't think this is the right location, much less the right time."

The land they were on happened to be a huge icy coast. Farther inward were icy mountains and a tall stone castle atop a steep cliff.

"You can't time travel if you're on dry land, can you?" asked Ran.

"No," said the Time Whale. "I require the sea in order to swim into the time stream."

"We're not too far off from the ocean," said Agasa.

"There's no way only the four of us can push him back into the sea," said Conan. "It's too far away and two of us are six years old."

"But is there anything here that can help?" said Ran.

"It's likely that that castle up there is inhabited," said the Time Whale. "You ought to go there for help. I can't do anything like this, but I will last for a long time out of the water. Still, I assume you guys enjoy being in the present, so it'd be best if you hurried."

"All right, then, let's head off," said Ran. "We've got to get home eventually. My dad must be worried sick."

"And I've still got a case to solve," said Conan. "Almost forgot about that."

They began their ascent.

"Hey, Ai-chan and Agasa-hakase, what were you doing in Santa's workshop, anyway?" asked Ran.

"I wanted to find out the meaning behind all this sudden magic," said Ai. "For experimental purposes. Gin came along because he can fly a helicopter."

"I see."

"Hey Shinichi, I've got an idea," said Agasa. "If we've really restored everything to normal because of what we did, and it's a time period closer to the present, maybe you can turn back to your regular self again."

"Maybe I can," said Conan. He said his own name three times again, but nothing happened.

"That sucks," said Ai.

"So that means one of two things," said Ran. "Either what we did wasn't enough to restore the timeline to its original state, or Santa's magic just doesn't work in the past at all."

"I hope it's the latter," said Conan. "I don't want to deal with my past self again, and definitely not my future self if that's even possible. It's unsettling."

"I'll admit it was kind of funny to see two of you, and you having to explain the whole situation to yourself."

"You try doing it."

"I wouldn't dare, unless it somehow restores Santa's magic and fixes everything."

They didn't talk for a while, but then Conan suddenly jumped like he remembered something, which he just had.

"So, Ran," said Conan, "did you find out what exactly I did that caused everything to screw up in the future?"

"Actually, yeah," said Ran. "From what I heard from the Time Whale, the cookies that Santa gave you in the past for lunch were his very last cookies. He didn't survive long after that."

"That's horrible," said Conan. "Now I really do feel guilty about everything."

"You didn't before?" said Ai.

"Well, not as much," said Conan. "I wasn't really sure what I did in the first place, but now that I know, I feel terrible just thinking about it."

"Well, at least it's probably fixed now," said Agasa. "Hopefully that timeline doesn't exist anymore."

"But still, it did at one point, and we still remember it," said Ai. "It may be gone but its memory takes its place."

"And," said Ran, "because it still existed at one point, everyone in that universe still suffered thanks to you."

"Thanks for the comforting words," said Conan. "I really appreciate them."

"Okay, we all know you didn't mean it," said Ran, "but you still screwed up."

* * *

Gin sat locked in a closet.

He knew that some infernal magic had made him good for a while, even-tempered, even likable by his former enemies. He had even helped out his former nemesis and traitor, Sherry. He had convinced his boss to turn his criminal company into a whole-hearted charity. And when all of the giddy feelings had worn off, he was trapped in a dirty, worse for wear closet at the North Pole.

It was like he had been on a bizarre drug trip for three whole days. He felt completely ashamed of all those goody actions he had done. Who even knits sweaters? He looked at his hands. They had been busy doing things for the power of love and friendship. It was sickening enough for him to want them figuratively cut off. His face had smiled genuinely probably a dozen times in a single hour. It was inexcusable. He had to get out of the cabin and take the helicopter back and stop his comrades from giving away more toys to needy children and make them go straight back to gun smuggling and political assassination.

The door was tough. His brute strength hadn't been enough to get him out after multiple tries. There had to be another way, but the rest of the room was filled with boxes of cookies, and the disturbing elves outside would definitely not open under any circumstances.

Unless...

"Hey, let me out," said Gin. "I turned good again."

"Okay," said the guard elf. Gin heard the door unlatch and he was suddenly free again.

As soon as he was clear of the door, Gin drop-kicked the nearest guard elf into the others and set off running for his helicopter.

He passed a doorway, then stopped and walked back and peered in. Mountains of magic sparkle dust within like a vault full of gold coins except they were magic. This would come in handy.

* * *

Agasa tripped in the snow.

"Are you all right, Hakase?" asked Ai.

"What did I trip over?" asked Agasa. "It couldn't be a log, could it?"

"There's not a tree in sight," said Conan. He walked over and began to unearth the object out of the snow. It was a yellow scooter.

"Sorry about that," said the scooter.

"It talked," said Ai. "It...has a face."

"Well, I'm sorry, haven't you ever been to the North Pole before? Of course us toys can talk. It's all we ever can do on this island." The scooter stood up by itself.

"What island?" said Ran.

"This is the Island of Misfit Toys, where all defective toys are sent by Santa's elves. Kids like you two shouldn't have to play with broken gifts. That's just not kind."

"We're not kids," said Conan. "We're sixteen and eighteen, respectively."

"Well, I'm sorry if I'm not used to teenagers that look like kids."

"I'm not used to scooters that talk."

"Now, hold off this argument," said Agasa. "This is getting ridiculous."

"I'll say," said Conan.

"Shut up, Kudo-kun," said Ai.

"Pardon my asking," said Ran, "but if you're a misfit toy, what's wrong with you?"

The scooter revealed that it could not turn but only go straight.

"That isn't so bad."

"Not if you want to ride a scooter down the highway," said the scooter.

"But what were you doing buried in the snow?" asked Conan.

"For your information, I was wallowing in sadness because no human child will ever play with me."

"Oh." Conan looked away. He had just offended a scooter.

"So there are other toys like you on this island?" asked Ran.

"Hundreds and hundreds."

"Can you help us? The Time Whale got beached here and we need to get back to our own time."

"I could round up our friends," said the scooter. "Come with me to the castle, we'll ask our ruler about it."

* * *

The four travelers and the yellow scooter with a face finally reached the entrance to the castle at the icy summit. Now they really could tell that they were on an island. All around them was the vast Arctic Ocean (they could tell because there was not a single penguin in sight).  
They opened the doors and before them was a huge court. A lion with wings, a black mane, and a crown reclined on its throne.  
"I am King Moon Raiser," said the lion. "To what do I owe the presence of these mortals?"

"They've been washed ashore on the Time Whale," said the scooter. "They request our assistance in returning the Whale to the sea."

"That's doable," said Moon Raiser, "for a favor."

Conan sighed. Are you kidding me. A favor.

"I am most definitely not kidding me," said Moon Raiser. "Yes, it's a favor. But it's not much. I want you to tell Santa to stop sending toys here and start sending them to kids who actually need toys, and who will be nice enough to care for a toy who won't work right. It's getting overcrowded here and I think that the toys here are very sad about this whole business. They're not even being given a chance."

"That's awful," said Ran. "We'll do it."

"I'm holding you to your word," said Moon Raiser.

"We were planning to return to Santa's workshop anyway," said Agasa, "so it's convenient."

* * *

Conan and Ai watched as Ran, Agasa, and a bunch of broken toys attempted to push the Time Whale back into the sea. Moon Raiser ended up having to aid them as well, and with a final push, the Time Whale was finally back in his own element.

"I think it's time to go," said the Time Whale.

"Be sure to inform Santa of our needs," said Moon Raiser.

They sailed away into the claymation time tunnel.  
"What year was that?" asked Conan.

"That was about two hundred years ago," said the Time Whale.

"How are they going to feel to have to wait two hundred years for Santa to start using the misfit toys?"

"I blame it on you," said the Time Whale. "You should have known better than to accept a request that was impossible to fulfill without time travel to the past."

"We fricked up," said Ran. "We're sorry."

"Maybe Santa can do something about it, if he's back," said Ai.

"I hope so," said Conan.


	7. Frosty

As the stream of time began to clear and a familiar village came into view, all four of the Time Whale's passengers felt an amazing sense of relief as they noticed that it had been restored to its former glory. It was a warm and happy light on the horizon of the ocean. They all pretended that the rotting derelict version of Santa's workshop was just a dream as they gazed upon the Christmas trees towering over the buildings covered in shimmering tinsel.

Ran wiped a tear away. "It's more beautiful than I could have imagined."

"We can only stay here for a little while," said the Time Whale. "Afterwards, Shinichi still has a case to solve." He lowered his tail and the four of them got off and landed in the magic snow.

Everyone looked at Conan.

"What?" he said.

"Try turning back, stupid," said Ai.

Conan said his name once again three times. Nothing still happened.

"Frick," he said. "What got screwed up this time?"

"Well, let's ask the jolly old man ourselves," said Agasa.

They all walked at a leisurely pace back to the workshop town. No one complained about anything because the Christmas magic surrounding the village had given them a positive feeling. They didn't feel hungry or cold or wet, just left to their thoughts.

"I can't believe this," said Conan. "I can't believe that we go all this way to fix the timeline and I have to be stuck as Conan again."

"Don't lose hope just yet," said Agasa.

"But what if Santa's still got some sort of problem? What if I have to stay like this for another whole vague number of months?"

"It wouldn't be that bad any more," said Ran. "After all, now everybody kind of knows and the Organization has given up for good."

"But," said Ai, "Gin turned evil again."

"Oh, right," said Ran. "And if Gin's evil, then so is the rest of the Organization...and they know that Shinichi's not dead and that he was six..."

"In other words, while we're gallivanting around up here in the North Pole, there are probably several people back in Tokyo who are in imminent danger," said Ai.

"Otou-san..." said Ran.

"We still have the Time Whale, however. If he gives us permission, we can fix history and take back their lives."

"But is that fixing history or breaking it?" said Conan.

"You don't have room to talk, Kudo-kun," said Ai. "Considering that we may have to fix things that happened in terms of 'hours ago' instead of hundreds of years in the past, it won't be that big of an issue."

"Good to know," said Ran, "but we'll still have inadvertently caused the deaths of our family and friends."

"What?" said a passing elf.

"Oh, nothing," said Ran. "Where's Santa-sama?"

"You mean Santa," said the elf. "He's in the lobby like he always is."

"Thanks," said Ran.

As they walked away, the elf turned to Conan and glared. "I heard that."

Everyone looked at Conan.

"What did you think?" said Ai.

"Nothing, nothing," said Conan.

"Sure," said Ai. "You need to get better manners."

"Am I missing something here?" said Ran.

"Yeah, elves and Santa are telepathic," said Conan. "It's unfortunate."

"Only for rude people like you," said Ai.

* * *

They stepped into the foyer of the main workshop building. As he always did, Santa showed up and slid down the banister, laughing like it had been any other day.

"Santa, is the timeline normal and everything?" said Conan.

"Indeed it is now," said Santa. "It's unfortunate that you ran into my past self and caused a bit of an accident."

"Sorry about that," said Conan. He was trying to be polite about indirectly killing Santa.

"Don't worry about you indirectly killing me. It couldn't have been helped, you didn't know what was going on."

"Thanks, Santa."

"Now, about your Christmas present..."

"It stopped working."

"I'll fix that right away," said Santa. He snapped his fingers which were within a large oven mitt (he had been interrupted while baking cookies) and with a supernova of Christmassy star death and the faintest hue of holly green fading into everyone's vision, Shinichi was back.

"Oh, thank goodness," said Shinichi. "I was getting afraid that somehow you wouldn't be able to fix it for a second time."

"Same rules apply as before," said Santa. "And I can hear your thoughts, Ai. Yes, I will turn Gin and the rest of the Organization good aga-"

A blast of sparkles appeared out of nowhere and hit Santa in the back.

"That's for making me sick," said Gin.

"What did you do to him!?" said Ran.

"Let's just say that 'magic sparkle dust' makes for an excellent tool when placed in the wrong hands."

Gin aimed the makeshift sparkle gun at Shinichi and shot him as well. Suddenly there was a blast of darkness like a Christmas tree in a power outage and the feeling that you had just treaded on a broken ornament. Then Shinichi was Conan again.

"What the frick did you do that for," said Conan.

"I think the gun reverses any magic effects," said Ai. "We need to leave."

"Hold on," said Santa. He barely could speak. "There's a way to stop him."

"Gin walked up and stepped on Santa's back, aiming the gun right at Santa's heart (the processing station for his magic). "And what would that be, old man?"

"Frosty...Frosty the Snowman."

"Where can we find him?" said Conan, who was genuinely worried.

Gin shot Santa in his magic-motherboard.

"What the heck, man," said Conan. "Have some Christmas spirit."

"Christmas ended three days ago," said Gin.

"He has a point," said Ai.

"No he doesn't," said Ran. "In Mexico, Christmas goes until January 6th."

"This isn't fricking Mexico," said Gin. "Now, if you don't mind, I'll be leaving all of you to rot in this desolate wasteland while I go home and do some proper illegal activities."

* * *

"He got away," said Agasa.

"Just when we were about to fix at least half of the problem," said Conan. "This sucks. Do we have to time travel again?"

"No, we need to find Frosty," said Ran. "He's that snowman that comes alive when you put the hat on his head, right?"

"Yes," said Agasa. "So we need the hat, and decent snowman-building skills."

"Any magical item of clothing will do," said a nearby elf. "But most of the stuff here runs on Santa's magic, and since that's out of the question, you're stuck looking for Frosty's original hat."

"Is it here?" asked Conan.

"Actually, it's likely that Frosty's using it right now. It's after Christmas Day and he's probably frolicking with the children down south as promised."

"How are we going to get there?" asked Agasa.

"I'm pretty sure the Time Whale can cover spacial distance as well as time," said Ran. "Where exactly is 'down south'?"

"America," said the elf. "I don't know whether he'll like his magical activities being interrupted, though. If you tell him Santa's in trouble, he'll probably take on some concern, so be sure to mention that right away."

"Okay, but America is still pretty vague," said Conan. "Like where in America? Texas? California? The huge void that people pretend exists called Wyoming?"

"Look, Christmas magic makes things pretty vague but you'll find it sure enough if you put one foot in front of the other," said the elf. "That's a philosophy that most of us have adopted, and strangely it works in a lot of circumstances."

"I can't argue with that," said Ai.

* * *

Gin sat in his black helicopter, having just taken off after loading several sacks of magic sparkle dust into the back seats. He turned on his phone and dialed Vodka's number.

"Aniki?" said Vodka.

"How are things going down there?" asked Gin.

"Well, we just loaded another five hundred trucks full of misfit toys to go to the needy, and-"

"No, we're done with that. I've had enough of this goody behavior. Get rid of those trucks, throw them in the sea, I don't care. We need to get back on track. I think I've found the proper ingredient to make APTX-4869 complete."

"You have?"

"I most definitely have."

He hung up. There was nothing else to discuss.

* * *

"Okay, we need to go to America and find Frosty," said Conan. "Can you do that?"

"Where exactly in America?" asked the Time Whale.

"We don't know, the elves told us just to do some musical number involving an awkward walking dance."

"Oh, I see. I know how to get there."

"Really? How?" said Ran.

"Most locations in the North Pole can be walked to on foot because they use cheesy cel animation transitions or just fade-ins in between. We're just going to sail off in some direction and after a matter of seconds and a 1960's level screen wipe, we'll be in this vague American village."

"Is that really how it works?" said Agasa.

"Travel has never been simpler."

They all got on the Time Whale and waited ever so patiently for the camera to pan away. They stared at the camera that watched them above the mountains, its gigantic lens staring back at them, reflecting the whole North-Pole-o-sphere.

"Is it working?" said Ran.

"If it was working, we'd be in the vague American village by now," said Ai.

"We should act like we're going on a journey that we think will take several days," said the Time Whale.

They all attempted this and the camera finally complied. After a snowflake-filled cel transition, they swam into the tiny pond of a vague northern American town covered in post-Christmas snow.

"I'm claustrophobic," said the Time Whale. "Please hurry up with this."

"Sure," said Ran, who glared at Conan, who was about to ask the Time Whale if he was afraid of Santa Claus. "We'll find him as soon as possible."

They saw in the distance a group of children dancing in unison around a snowman in a black top hat as if they were performing some sort of arcane ritual. The movements felt... flat. It was like they had lost their depth in return for an eternal blessing from the snow clouds above. Their faces were simple, a single shade that light could not play around. They were covered in garish winter garbs, similarly unaffected by the sun's rays.

Conan wondered how these people lived on such a low budget sort of basis. Their eyes didn't shine with at least three highlights; they were as dark as the inside of Santa's boots. Their character models were extremely simple, they seemed to have little consistency in their movements. How did they live like this? It was as if all artistic meaning had been washed away in return for some desperate animators to make a wadful of money very quickly.

"That's him, definitely," said Agasa. "Let's catch us a snowman."

The four huddled together like they were about to play a serious game of basketball against the Lakers. Their biggest threat, their own personal Shaq towering over them, was that Frosty was being worshipped by a cult of grade schoolers who would probably not let him go easily.

"I vote that Shinichi and Ai go in and pretend that they're in with this crowd," said Ran.

"I concur," said Agasa.

"You guys are horrible," said Conan.

Ai just shrugged. They broke from the huddle and walked over to the dancing kids.

"Hi, can we play with Frosty?" said Conan in English.

"Okay," said the girl who was probably in charge. They opened the circle of wildly dancing elementary schoolers. Conan went up to Frosty.

"Santa needs your help," said Conan.

"Sure he does, like every other time he needs me," said Frosty. "He doesn't appreciate what I do. I make these kids happy every year just like what he does with the presents, and what does he do? Tell me to stop making their days and go back to the cold desolate Pole where nothing makes sense at all. I tell you, this society is a place for a snowman with rights like me."

"Santa's lost his magic in an accident and if we don't act soon we won't be able to recover him," said Ai. "Since it's worn off, his immortality is starting to wane. He's going to age. He's going to get whatever was coming to him from eating a diet consisting entirely of cookies and milk. And you're the only one with a separate, powerful source of magic that can help restore the magical balance to the world."

"And if I don't?"

"The guilt is on you for making even more millions of children suffer for your own petty needs."

"I don't need the other children," said Frosty. "Even without a magical Christmas I'll still be there for the kids. I'm all they need. I'm the only thing that matters in their lives. In summer when they sit boredly in the hot sun, they think about me and my love for the cold. They miss me. And you can't take their happiness away just because an old timer might finally be meeting the death that should have come to pass a long, long while ago."

"You really don't have Christmas spirit, do you," said Conan.

"I don't need it, I'm there when Christmas isn't," said Frosty.

The other kids had stopped their rhythmic tap dance and were staring at the snowman.

"You should help Santa," said one. "If Santa dies, no one gets presents."

"Yeah," said another.

"See, now you have to do it," said Conan. "Now it's obligatory that you not disappoint your audience."

"Fricking dang it," said Frosty. "Here, take my hat and make a snowman of me at the North Pole. I'll do what I can." He took off the hat and instantly he was a regular snowman again, looking slightly lopsided.

"I'd like to stay and teach you better snowman-making skills, but we've got places to be," said Conan. He gave Agasa and Ran a thumbs-up and they returned to the Time Whale.

"I'm glad you followed through with your promise," said the Time Whale.

"We don't have time to waste," said Ai. Because she said this, the camera watching omnipresently above accepted this form of saying they were in a hurry, and the film did a screenwipe. They had returned to the sea right outside the village.

"I like snowflake transitions better," said Ai. "Less whiplash."

* * *

They noticed that there was a second Time Whale anchored next to them.

"Oh no, not this again," said the Time Whale. "The New Year screwed up. They didn't get rid of our time clones."

"I'll say," said the Past Time Whale.

"That means we're going to find Past Me and Past Ran in the village?" said Conan.

"Right," said Past Time Whale. "By the way, what's up with that hat?"

"We're using it to re-assemble Frosty," said Ran.

The four of them worked together to assemble Frosty as they watched the village began to deteriorate again, having been separated from Santa's magic source once more. Ran placed the top hat with a stupid looking flower on Frosty's head, and suddenly the snow moved as if it was alive.

"Happy birthday," said Frosty.

"It's no one's birthday," said Ran.

"I have to say that every time, it's scripted," said Frosty. "Give me a break. Where's Santa?"

"The elves probably took him to an infirmary," said Ai. "We'll have to ask around. Let's go."

They walked through the town square, thankfully unpaved, which allowed Frosty to not lose any snow. Things were starting to look droll again, quicker this time, as if the last time anomaly had weakened the magic's ability to stand up on its own.

"This is a bad case," said Frosty.

They happened upon an elf.

"You got any idea where Santa's being kept?" said Conan.

The elf looked blankly at the four, hissed at them, and ran away awkwardly.

"That's not a good sign," said Ran.

"I figure that without Santa's magic, they've become sub-elf," said Ai. "Almost like the vicious fairy folk people used to write about. Ghastly stuff."

"I hope nothing's happened to Santa's body."

They turned another corner through an alleyway that vaguely smelled like rotten gingerbread, and saw an unfortunate sight, which was Past Ran and Past Conan trying to defend themselves from a horde of sub-elves.

"I'm going to go help them," said Ran. She approached and then karate kicked several of the elves away. Past Ran looked at Present Ran with some shock.

Once the sub-elves were cleared away, scampering into dark corners with imaginary tails between their legs, they finally had a chance to talk.

"How did you guys get here?" said Conan.

"We came back to Santa's village to check on it," said Past Conan. "Why are you guys here?"

"We came back to Santa's village with Frosty so we could save the world, and Christmas," said Ran.

"Shoot," said Past Ran. "We aren't getting in your way, are we?"

"Not at all," said Conan. "It's nice to have more of us, especially more of me."

Past Conan nodded in agreement. Everyone else glared at Conan.

They entered the main hall. Santa was still laying there, looking much older.

"What can you do to help?" asked Ran.

"It's a simple matter," said Frosty. He took the garish purple flower from his top hat and placed it on Santa.

"What's that going to do, make him smell nice as he decomposes?" asked Past Conan.

"Give it a moment," said Frosty.

They watched as Santa was enshrouded in a bizarrely low-quality light. As it faded, the flower disappeared. Santa awoke, stood up, and shook off the dust.

"Thanks, Frosty," said Santa. "And all of you. Christmas has been saved."

"You're welcome," said Ran.

"Can I go home now?" asked Frosty.

"Sure you can, and allow me to fix a couple other things," said Santa. He snapped his fingers which were pretty numb because of how cold the floor was, and with multiple long descriptions of what sensory feelings you could get from watching Christmas magic do its work, Conan was Shinichi, Frosty and his hat were gone, Past Conan, Past Time Whale, and Past Ran disappeared, and miles away, Gin briefly lost control of his helicopter having had an epiphany that being evil was just not worth it in the long run.

"That takes care of everything in that regard," said Santa. "But if I recall correctly, you still have to solve the case of the Heat Miser's death."

"I kind of figured it out on the way here," said Shinichi.

"Did you really?"

"It was a suicide."


	8. Epilogue

The doors to the main workshop hall opened and who was to come in but Kogoro.

"I flew in by reindeer. Did I miss anything?"

"Yes," said Shinichi. "A lot."

"At least he didn't show up when there were two of us," said Ran. "That would have been hard to explain."

"Two of you?" said Kogoro."Don't tell me there's a cloning machine here or anything. I wouldn't want five to seven brats running around."

"No, it was just really awkward time travel," said Shinichi. "And I am not Conan, at least not any more, unless there's an emergency."

"If you show up on my doorstep six years old and in need of a hiding place again I will not take you in."

"Thanks, thanks a lot. There shouldn't be any need for me to do something like that, though, what with the Christmas magic and all."

"But if it ever runs out or something drastic happens to Santa again, you could wind up reverting back to a child at any time," said Ai. "You wouldn't want that to happen at school, would you? Or on a date?"

"The date thing already happened once," said Shinichi. "Thanks for bringing that up."

"Oh, that's right," said Ran. "That sucked. You sucked for going to solve that murder instead of telling me whatever you were going to say, which was probably that you were Conan the entire time."

"She has a point," said Santa.

"Okay, we need to go see the Cold Miser, and then head back," said Shinichi, who was trying to avoid the topic of how much of a horrible person he was.

"I'll tell him the details," said Santa. "I think you mortals have had enough rambunctious Christmas fun for one day."

* * *

Having realized that his entire life was a lie, Gin set out on his most important mission to humanity. He flew over Tokyo, dumping the magic sparkle dust out over the city's skyscrapers. The sparkly stuff fell like snow and people looked up at it and smiled.

All across the city, people's greatest (good) wishes and hopes came true. Several people were making out, such as Takagi Wataru and Sato Miwako. Shiratori Ninzaburo won the lottery and rented a yacht. Megure dropped the pizza slice he was about to eat and found it miraculously unharmed. Jodie and Dr. Araide found true love in each other.

Vermouth's motorcycle got fixed. Vodka got new prescription lenses and could finally take off his sunglasses. And, last but not least, Akai Shuuichi knew that somewhere out there, a teenage boy with a passion for anime cared more strongly about his life than any other person in the universe. Things were looking up.

* * *

Ai and the Detective Boys minus Conan (who was now honorary member Shinichi) walked to school accompanied by their favorite adult, Gin. He was wearing a Christmas sweater with a military rifle pattern on it.

As they reached the school, Gin stopped suddenly. Everyone looked up at him.

"I have something to talk about with Ai-kun," said Gin. "You kids go on." They did as he said, not without some curiosity.

"What could possibly be on your mind, ignoring the tumultuous adventure we just had?" said Ai.

"I'm going to live a nomadic life in the Siberian mountains," said Gin. "I have a couple things to think through."

"Like what?"

"Who I'm going to be now that I'm purely good. What I believe about the afterlife, that kind of stuff, you dig?"

"I dig very much. Good luck, Gin."

At these words, Gin turned and walked into the sunset (it was obviously sunset the entire time), disappearing in a flurry of orange-tinted snow. Ai shed a tear of happiness.

* * *

A snowman laid in a snow bed in a snow hospital, hooked up to carefully constructed ice heart monitors. No mortal man could possibly live standing there, surrounded by temperatures near absolute zero, which is slightly higher than normal room temperature for snowmen. A bandage was around his waist from the knife wound he received seven chapters back, completely visible under the ice blanket.

"So that's the story," said Sam. "That's how it all happened. I wish I had been there to see it, but I was busy visiting relatives in Alaska. What a state that is." He coughed to clear his throat.

A snow-nurse came in. He checked the icy LCD screens for the heart monitor. "Pulse is normal, very good, Sam."

"Thanks, Dr. Yuki," said Sam. He turned back towards the imaginary audience. "I sure gave folks a scare when some naughty penguin gave me a good ice pick in the back. Good thing Conan was around to solve who exactly tried to 'melt' me, so to speak. Well, he's not exactly Conan any more, but you get what I mean. You barely missed him, he just teleported away. Like the fella was never here. Magic sure is a miracle for society's purpose."

Sam crossed his arms in quiet contemplation and the camera gently panned to his window, then outside. Snowflakes once again caressed the light blue screen, carefully rotated and resized so no two seemed alike, 'seemed' being the key word here. A reprise of Christmassy music began to enter a crescendo. Eventually the screen gave way to white and then faded to black. A shaky cel caption faded in saying 'THIS HAS BEEN A CBS TELEVISION NETWORK PRESENTATION. COPYRIGHT MCMXCIV', then faded away again as if it had nothing more to say.

* * *

The VHS tape stopped, the TV screen choking itself with static, then finally cutting to the blue video screen like a life thread being cut by a deranged eyeless mythical lady as the tape ran out. Shinichi pressed Eject, and after some very loud mechanical noises, the tape slid out of its compartment.

It was a simple VHS six-hour tape labeled in big black marker letters on the top and sides: 'MOURI CHRISTMAS '94'. Shinichi played with the clicky little tape holding latch in the back.

"That was the best movie I ever watched," said Ran.

"That's because it actually happened," said Shinichi. "I'm glad the owner of the great camera in the sky was nice enough to lend us a copy, though. This is way better to remember with studio quality editing."

"Put that tape back in, I want to watch the part where you feel all guilty again."

"Oh, come on." Shinichi walked up to the couch and handed her the tape. "You do it, I'm done watching this." He stomped out of the room.

Ran put the tape back in and rewound it to when everyone was berating Conan for his horrible actions.

Shinichi stood in the hallway suddenly, realizing something as he heard the echo of his own voice complaining.

"Who even was that snowman guy?"

He shrugged and walked away.

** 'TOON' IN NEXT TIME FOR THE IIIRD INSTALLMENT: "CONANSMAS"**


End file.
